Suspects of frauds with mother's capital detained in Chechnya

Three women-local residents have been detained in Chechnya on suspicion of committing major frauds with certificates on maternity capital. According to preliminary data, over 300 women became their victims, while the total amount of damage exceeds 100 million roubles.

"The Investigatory Department of the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) for Chechnya has identified major frauds with certificate for maternity capital. Within the inquiry into this case, we detained three women-local residents involved in this scam. Criminal cases on large-scale frauds have been opened against them," a law enforcer told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to the inquiry, last August in Grozny the above mentioned three local residents founded a company named "Adamis" for committing frauds. "Acting through this dummy company, the women-fraudsters used to cash federal funds through maternity certificates they took from gullible women. Instead of these documents, the women were promised 250,000 roubles in cash," said the source.

According to his story, "it has been currently established that more than 300 women have fallen victim of the cheaters, and this number continues growing." "As of today, the amount of damage caused as a result of these fraudulent activities is estimated in excess of 100 million roubles," the source has added.

The scheme used by the fraudsters looked pretty simple. They prepared a package of documents on every certificate allegedly to buy an apartment or build a new house and cashed huge sums through credit institutions. However, none of the credulous mothers has received the promised 250,000 roubles.

The position of the suspects and their defence is still unknown.

According to a local expert, who preferred to remain anonymous, the authorities themselves create all the conditions for such schemes to work in Chechnya. "To get the best out of this maternity capital and use it to improve their living conditions or for other purposes, you must have great connections, or leave some of this amount to numerous middlemen. In fact, women cannot get their money normally; therefore, they have to address all sorts of dubious individuals, who promise cash for 25-30 percent of the money as payment for their services," he said.

"Although they say here that mothers can buy building materials or house appliances for needs of their families; in fact, the result is a fraud. Only in one place - in the city of Shali - there is a specialty shop, where you can buy construction materials or some kind of appliances for the maternity capital certificate. But the prices there are at least 1.5-2 times higher. That is, buying there is unprofitable, although many people do it, because they fear that they can lose all this money, as it was some time ago with those notorious vouchers," said Aimani T., a resident of Grozny and an economist by education.

She is convinced that frauds with the maternity capital could not be possible without support in various departments and agencies.